Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

12-Year-Old BATTLES The World’s No. 2 Chess Player

Michelle Zhang, a 12-year-old chess player from Halifax, held world No. 2 chess player Hikaru Nakamura at bay for 65 moves during a first-round match at the Maritime Open Chess Championship in Prince Edward Island, putting up such a strong fight that the superstar admitted feeling nervous and concerned during their game. The young player, who has been competing in chess since age 6 and regularly watches Nakamura’s YouTube streams where he has over three million subscribers, could hardly believe it when she spotted him at breakfast and learned he would be her opponent. Zhang was half nervous and half excited to face someone she considers a celebrity in the chess world, with other players and fans treating his appearance like he was Taylor Swift walking into the tournament. Nakamura made the surprise last-minute appearance because he needs to play 11 classical-rated chess games before the end of the year to qualify for the 2026 FIDE Candidates tournament, viewing his trip to P.E.I. as a chance to give back to the chess community.

In his post-match recap on YouTube, which Zhang eagerly watched once it went live, Nakamura complimented her skills and offered a detailed breakdown of where she went wrong while admitting he felt he laid many traps and was relieved to win after she held her own until the final moments. Zhang reflected that Nakamura might have underestimated her a little bit and said she wished she had achieved a better result, acknowledging she ran low on time and made a blunder at the end. Despite losing, she considered watching his recap a great educational opportunity and felt validated hearing him admit his concerns during the match. With 25 years of age difference between them, Zhang has plenty of time to practice for a potential rematch, though she says she doesn’t have big dreams beyond wanting to get better at the game and continue improving one move at a time.

PrevPreviousFrom Babysitting to Educating Thousands Every Year
NextThe Small Parade That Became Something ExtraordinaryNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

Scientists May Have Finally “Seen” Dark Matter

May 9, 2026

For nearly a century, dark matter has been one of the greatest mysteries in all of science. We know it exists as it makes up an estimated 85% of the universe’s total mass and acts as invisible gravitational scaffolding holding galaxies together, but no one has ever directly observed it.

Read More
Happy News

Coral Reefs Are Hiding An Almost Entirely Unstudied Universe Of Potential Medicine

May 9, 2026

Scientists at the University of Galway and an international consortium have discovered that coral reefs contain an almost entirely unstudied universe of microbial life, publishing a study in Nature that reconstructed the genomes of 645 microbial species from 99 coral reefs across 32 Pacific islands, with more than 99 percent

Read More
Happy News

A Rare Superbloom Is Turning Part Of Redwood National Park Purple And There Are Only Weeks To See It

May 9, 2026

Something extraordinary and fleeting is happening right now in Northern California, where the Bald Hills grasslands above the redwood canopy in Redwood National Park have erupted into a rare lupine superbloom, turning a stretch of elevated landscape off a remote road near Orick into a sweeping sea of purple, blue,

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2026 HappyNews.